The Shared Vision is sure to be a hot topic at this COP, and you can expect to see a lot of discussion on it over the next couple of weeks.

Today there was a workshop on the Shared Vision. The Shared Vision is basically a statement laying out some key points on the direction we’re going in our efforts to solve climate change. It’s kind of a big deal (although some countries don’t seem to think so). A choice quote from the session: in an impassioned comment, Barbados said they would "refuse to sign a suicide note" that would consign their country, and other vulnerable countries, to massive destruction related to climate change.

At the workshop, a number of presentations were made laying out some positions from different countries on what a vision for our climate future - and a future international agreement - should look like. The good news is that many of the submissions shared common themes – continued recognition of common but differentiated responsibilities, which means recognizing that developed countries are historically the greatest emitters and must make the most significant contribution to global emissions reductions.

The bad news is that only one Annex 1 (developed) country presented at the LCA today, and this presentation on behalf of the European Union suggested a target of 30% emissions reductions below 1990 levels by 2020. In light of the scientific assessment that we require a reduction of at least 25-40% from developed countries by 2020 to have a shot at avoiding dangerous climate change, it's depressing to see the EU - usually a "good guy" on the climate scene - advocate for a relatively week target that doesn't provide any certainty that we can avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. This is what Barbados was referring to when they said they couldn't "sign a suicide note" - without more serious commitments, there's a good chance that many of these countries could see massive disruption from a changing climate.

If we want to move forward on the shared vision - and ultimately on a new post-2012 international climate framework - we need to see serious commitment from Annex 1 countries, especially laggards like Canada, who have been primarily responsible for creating this climate conundrum. Let's hope these countries wake up and start to take the talks a little more seriously, because we're running out of time.